


Children, Children in our Hearts

by InfinityIllusion



Category: Bleach
Genre: Crack Fic, Gen, I have attempted humor, Memes, Thanks Shiba, that's all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2018-06-05
Packaged: 2019-05-18 12:46:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14853026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InfinityIllusion/pseuds/InfinityIllusion
Summary: Shiba Ichigo goes to the Shinigami Academy ready to take the place by a storm, graduate in a year, and maybe even make his mark on the place.He succeeds in all of those, the last especially literally through his kidou classes.It gets to the point where the first thing a student will say when something happens in relation to their kidou class is, "Thanks, Shiba."





	Children, Children in our Hearts

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fw_feathers (mia826)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mia826/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Every Second (I’ll be running)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14777519) by [fw_feathers (mia826)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mia826/pseuds/fw_feathers). 



> Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach
> 
> Also, great thanks to fw_feathers for allowing me to write this!
> 
> ...Yeah, that's about it.
> 
> (I did not write the tail end of a scene to be read as a potential set up for fw_feather's fic. Totally did not :3)

* * *

The first time, it’s probably actually Ichigo’s fault.

Look, it’s the first day they’re let out of the stuffy lecture hall to actually practice kidou, and yeah, Ichigo has been practicing since he was a kid, but he doesn’t really know the standard kidou taught at the Academy any better than most other students who study.

(Shiba specialize in fireworks and explosions, with the occasional random elemental or otherwise experimental stuff on the side.  Outside of the R&D department at the back of the compound, of course.)

But the instructor tries to claim that knowing the theory well will help their first execution of the kidou to be successful.

Ichigo would call bullshit, but it’s not like Kuukaku and the rest of his family haven’t at least _tried_ that method before.

(There’s a reason that Kuukaku-nee-chan keeps here explosives and firework creations notes in separate lead-lined boxes when he’s home, after all.)

Whatever.  Ichigo isn’t going to be held back from his goal of graduating in a year just because of his damn _kidou_ grades.

So he lines up with the rest of his class, braces his hands, readying the incantation and waiting for the instructor to say, “Fire!”

The problem is, Ichigo is also preparing to bring his reiatsu to bear, and Ichigo has.  Well, “a lot” is a little bit of an understatement.

(“Control” is also something he’s not particularly good with, either.)

Needless to say, with the sudden rapid increase of spiritual pressure on the kidou grounds, with something as potentially delicate as kidou?  Well.  His classmates end up overpowering their spells too, misjudging the amount they need to put in based on their surroundings.

Well.  Did they _really_ need that wall? Or that grove of trees?  Or that arrogant 6th year that Ichigo was probably going to end up beating up in a week during Zanjutsu class anyways?

(And, hey, she’s gonna recover, so it’s not _that_ bad!)

Still, he should own up to this.

“Uh, sorry?” Ichigo says, hand on the back of his neck.

His entire class turns to stare at him, and really, he should be used to that, but also _they_ should be used to him by now, right? Like they definitely heard the rumors from when he took the placement exam – _he’s_ heard the rumors from his placement exam because _Toushirou_ , who’s equally antisocial to focus on training, heard them first.

(Or not, given that this is the only class he actually has with _any_ of them.)

“ _Thanks_ , Shiba-dono,” the girl to his left snarks. “Now we know what _not_ to do with kidou – bring every last drop of our reiatsu to bear, or to invite you.”  Her grin takes the bite out of the words, and she nudges him playfully.  He now reconsiders the idea of not actually having met any of these people ever, because he _thinks_ the girl looks like someone from his Hakuda class….

Ichigo scowls anyways.

It’s not really his fault, except that since it’s his spiritual pressure, and it’s, well, attached to him, so it really kinda is his fault.

The instructor, unlike the students who’ve calmed down thanks to whatever-her-name-is’s comment, looks ready to have a conniption.

~IiI~

The second time, Ichigo was walking back from the cafeteria and noticed that someone was frustratedly shouting the wrong incantation words.

On one hand, the words themselves aren’t _that_ important.  They give your mind something to focus upon, sentences that don’t come up in normal conversation and produce a set, expected result, so it’s easier to get the expected product, but you don’t strictly _need_ them to perform a kidou.

They’re also supposed to help you focus and mold your reiatsu into the form expected by the spell, but, well, that doesn’t always happen either.

As a newbie, though, the spells are usually really helpful, but when you mess up the words, some part of you _knows_ , and that’s when extraneous explosions tend to occur.

Regardless, it’s not like Ichigo doesn’t know the words, so he shouts, “It’s Black _Dog_ , not Black  _Bog_!”

There’s a pause, followed by a quiet, “ _Oh_.”

Whoever’s practicing tries again, this time with the correction, and the appropriate lights flash.

“ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? THE WORDS MAKE NO SENSE WHY DOES ONE WORD MATTER SO MUCH?”

Ichigo laughs a little, because that was exactly his reaction when he started learning kidou incantations.  He’s also repeated an entire rant on the subject to anyone in his family who’ll listen to him.

Shiba, as a whole, might be prodigious at creating, executing, and deconstructing kidou, but they don’t make any spells whose words make any more sense.

(Case in point, the first chant they learn as kids is _‘Red fire, blue fire, knock ‘em dead_ ,’ which not only doesn’t produce any version of purple flame, make’s a bright yellow explosion which actually turns the people it’s directed at bright, sparkly yellow.)

“You need the chants until you can do it wordless and then you don’t have to complain or worry about it anymore,” Ichigo calls.

“Fuck, FINE.  Thanks, Shiba!”

~IiI~

“Are you supposed to be trying to explode things in the library?” Ichigo asks with a raised eyebrow.

“Uh, Shiba –” Ichigo glares, “-san, we were just trying to see if the reconstruction of Sai could be used to bind nonliving things and expand its purposes beyond just the Shinigami Arts.”

“Right, well, you’re actually about to blow something up, so unless you actively _want_ to get banned from the library…”

“Seriously?” One of the other Shinigami in the group, who may or may not be a TA for Ichigo’s current kidou class asks incredulous.  “You can explode stuff with _Sai_?”

Ichigo shrugs.  “You can explode pretty much every kidou if you try hard enough, and you’re about to try hard enough.”

“I still can’t get over that it’s possible to explode _Sai_.”

“Yeah, well, Michi-chan, Shiba here probably knows from experience and if not his personal experience, then from his family, so let’s go find that abandoned training field.”

“Fiiiine, fiiiine. Thanks, Shiba,” Michi says, slightly begrudgingly.

Ichigo shakes his head at the antics and goes off to find out more about the R&D department of the Gotei 13’s origin.  The current captain is creepy _as fuck_ , but from the stories Yoruichi-san tells, the guy who made it change to R&D wasn’t nearly as creepy, and his lieutenant was violent, but also _not creepy_.

(Seriously, how’d they end up with Kurotsuchi as a captain anyways?)

So, yeah, Ichigo’s heard some about Urahara Kisuke from Kuukaku-nee-chan, and her friend Yoruichi-san, but they’re not particularly good at dealing with history, instead of personal anecdotes, and he only has a half hour before he’s meeting with Toushirou again to work on his kidou.

~IiI~

After that, it becomes something of a trend:

 

“Shiba, where the heck were you the other day at 19:33?”

“Uh, walking back from a Zanjutus spar with Toushirou?”

“Ugh, _thanks_ , Shiba.  My test is in half an hour and I can’t even get the incantation right.”

Ichigo shrugs.  It’s not his problem, or his fault.

(Toushirou is…okay, based on the way his shoulders are shaking, he’s totally laughing at Ichigo, since he’s been here for the whole exchange, and Ichigo has complained to him about that first practical kidou class.)

 

“Alright, everyone hand in their essays on the mechanics of mid-level bindings and the different manifestations therein.”

“Shit, I forgot to finish that!” One student mutters from the middle of the classroom.

“Nooo, I forgot to put it in my bag!” Another bemoans from the front.

Unknowingly in unison, both end up hissing, “ _Thanks, Ichigo._ ”

(Ichigo only hears about this, because apparently someone thought it funny enough to share in the cafeteria while he was there grabbing dinner.)

 

“Ten minutes until the practical, you all prepared?”

“Uh, no.”

“Eh, maybe?”

Ichigo shrugs, “Probably.”

“Shiba, if you mess this up, I swear…”

“Alright, everyone, please move into the room.  We’ll start calling you out to the practice field in a few minutes.”

“ _I forgot my notes_.  _Thanks,_ Shiba.”

“I didn’t _do_ anything!”

 

“Shiba, what is this?”

“Uh, where the targets used to be?”

“Yes, and where are the target?”

“Vaporized, I guess.”

“Exactly.  And do you know what this means?”

“No.”

“You and the rest of the class will get to spend your weekend _remaking_ the targets.”

“Seriously, sensei!” One of the braver souls calls from the back.

“Yes, _seriously_ ,” He says, glasses flashing.  “Once you graduate you will work under captains and with people and doing jobs you do not necessarily _like_.  Better get used to it now.”

“Thanks, Ichigo,” The class mutters.

Ichigo sighs.

~IiI~

Ichigo definitely leaves a mark on the Academy – he graduates in a year alongside Toushirou, and he enters the Eleventh straight away.

 

And his name is still called upon when someone messes up their kidou.

* * *

...I hope this was entertaining?

 

Kudos, comments, concrit welcome!

~Fins

 


End file.
